Every year we go on a long weekend vacation with Mike’s family and this past summer was particularly special since it was Mike’s parents 50th wedding anniversary. I had a mission to find the family a memorable experience. My searches guided me to a 70' Monte Fino Yacht named OASIS in Seattle, WA. This was my first trip to Seattle and having spent our evenings from a boat was the best way to experience the beautiful city. From OASIS’s top deck…
We made it to Wisconsin on Labor Day ready for our tiny home travel trailer r-pod adventure to begin. We exchanged a quick hello with my parents and immediately began our r-pod lessons with my dad. We had two days to learn all we needed on its operations before our 2,500 mile trip back to Oregon. We knew we had a long journey ahead of us. While at my parents we slept in the r-pod to help learn as much as…
We had a rough start to 2014 having to return early from our around the world trip for Mike to recover from dengue and typhoid. The silver lining is this setback provided time for us to discover a new found passion which ignited our adventurous spirit and love for the outdoors. In late January, four months into our international travel, we flew back to the states. We opted for Arizona’s sunny skies rather than Minnesota’s frigid below zero temps. We had our 60 liter backpacks, holes…
This thing we call life, it's hard. I mean really hard. During our travels I met a beautiful charismatic woman who gave me a different perspective on life. Her analogy resinates with me to this day. It brought clarity and the previous negativity was replaced with positive feelings of those lost friendships or the longing for the past. So here it is... We each have our own boat. People come aboard as you need them. A select few are the…
By my very nature I am a planner. In my work life I am a project manager and in my personal life I create spreadsheets to plan for every trip or major life event. There is something exhilarating and terrifying about traveling with no plan in place. The stress of where will I sleep tonight or where is my next bathroom option are top of mind. This past weekend we did just that, left the city with a general goal of seeing the Painted Hills…
It was a proud moment checking Crater Lake off my bucket list. The experience was more incredible than I had imagined. My first glimpse seeing the giant bowl filled with fog so thick you could barely see across the lake was majestic. Love at first site! Part of my desire to keep discovering and exploring is that giddy feeling you get experiencing a place for the first time. It’s like Christmas morning growing up feeling intoxicated with excitement and anticipation.
Many years ago Mike and I discovered our perfect slice of paradise, Little Corn Island (LCI), Nicaragua. This past trip was even more incredible having shared the experience with our dearest Minneapolis friends. The journey of getting there is all apart of the adventure. We’ve found island life be much simpler, light beers taste better and swimming in the warm gulf waters pulls the heartstrings to keep coming back for more. If you crave adventure and enjoy a relaxing beach escape…
A solid staple in our relationship has been our combined passion for adventure. This was apparent in a recent camping trip to the coast. In Mike's true adventurous spirit, one of the many reason he stole my heart, called me Friday afternoon asking if I would be willing to go camping that night. Cape Lookout State Park My day had already been exhausting on top of being tired and crappy. The thought of racing home to frantically pack up the camping gear was daunting.